Anchor



March 26, 1963 c. R. CHARD 3,082,729

ANCHOR INVENTOR. CZ/FFOED f3. CHARO,

A TTOENEIS.

nited tates This invention relates to an anchor, and more particularlyto an anchor having a plurality of collapsible flukes.

It has heretofore been the practice in producing anchors to employ ashank having an annular fluke, or a plurality of flukes, extendingradially outwardly from the lower end of the shank. The advantages ofthe use of such flukes are well known. They engage the bottom or objectson the bottom, such as rocks, to hold the anchor in a fixed position.This advantageous result produced by the flukes also creates certaindifiiculties in that when the fluke-s become caught on the bottom it isdifficult to raise the anchor, particularly if it is being raisedmanually.

It is the general object of my invention to provide an anchor having aplurality of radially extending flukes which will overcome thedisadvantages and difiiculties described above. More specifically, it isan object of my invention to provide an anchor which will have excellentholding properties but whose flukes will be c01- lapsible to permit theanchor to be easily raised.

In carrying out my invention in its preferred form, there is provided anelongated shank having a longitudinally extending bore formed therein.Axially movable within said bore is a rod adapted to have one of itsends disposed above the shank and its opposite end extend downwardlyinto the bore for connection to a plug spring biased toward the lowerend of the shank. A plurality of flukes are pivotally mounted on theshank adjacent its lower end, with the inner ends of each of said flukesbeing engageable with the plug so that when said plug is disposed in itslower position the flukes are held in a radially extended position, andwhen said plug is moved upwardly within the shank the flukes can pivotdownwardly into a collapsed position extending downwardly from thebottom of the shank. An important feature of the invention concerns themanner in which the fiukes engage the plug, both in the extended andcollapsed condition of the flukes. In the extended condition, the innerends or noses of the flukes engage side surfaces of the plug "with theresult that the forces exerted on the plug by those noses have nosignificant effect in tending to displace the plug from itsfluke-locking position. In the collapsed position of the flukes, thenoses engage the lower end of the plug in such arnanner that thedownward bias exerted on the plug tends to urge the flukes towardextended positions.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention. In such drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partially in section, of an anchor embodyingmy invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the anchor shown in FIG. '1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a pivotal flukeconnection; and

P16. 4 is a side elevation of the anchor shown in FIG. 1, but showingsaid anchor in collapsed position.

As illustrated in the drawing, my anchor comprises an elongated metalshank having a generally flattened upper face 12 and an eyelet 14 forconnecting the shank to a boat by means of a line 16. Conveniently, theshank 10 has a tapered configuration, tapering outwardly from its upperend toward the crown portion 18.

Formed within the shank 10 is an axially extending bore 20, shoulderedas at 22. A rod 24 is axially movable within the bore and is provided atits upper end with an expanded head 26 disposed above the upper shankface 12. An L-shaped lever '28 is loosely received on the upper end ofthe rod 24 and comprises a leg 30 interposed between the head 26 and theupper shank face 12, and a leg 32 extending downwardly along a side wallof the shank '10. Conveniently, an eyelet 34 is mounted on the leg 32for interconnecting the lever 28, and thus the rod 24, to a boat bymeans of a line 36. A plug 38 is fixedly secured to the lower end of therod 24 for axial movement with said rod within the shank bore 20. Theplug 38 is biased toward the shank crown 18 by a spring 40 interposedbetween the upper face of the plug 38 and the'bore shoulder 22.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, two pairs of opposed flukes 42 and 44 arepivotally mounted on the shank 10 adjacent its lower end. Although anydesired number of flukes of any convenient size may be employed, Iprefer to use two pairs of flukes with each pair having a diiterentWidth. As shown, the pair of flukes 42 are wider than the pair of flukes44 to provide alternately broad and narrow flukes extending outwardlyfrom the shank crown 18. This alternate arrangement of the ditterentsized flukes provides a relatively large bottom engaging area, whilepermitting the flukes to be collasped into a compact position in whichthey extend downwardly from the bottom of the shank with the faces ofthe opposed flukes being disposed in a substantially parallelrelationship.

Each of the flukes comprises a plate 46 rigidly supported on an arm 52.The inner end of each of the arms 52 is received in a slot 54 extendingupwardly from the base of the shank crown 18. As illustrated in FIG. 2,I provide two such intersecting slots 54 normal to each other and formedin the shank crown 18. The arms 52 are pivotally mounted on the shank 10by pins 56. To this end, a vertically extending groove 58 is formed inthe shank 10 on each side of each of the slot openings 54 to permit thepins to be easily inserted through openings formed in the shank and theinner ends of the fluke arms 52. The inner end of each of the arms 52extends into the bore 20 in the path of movement of the plug 38, and isprovided with a nose 60 engageable with the sides of said plug forholding the flukes in extended position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The anchor is illustrated in FIG. 1 in its operative position in whichthe flukes 42 and 44 are extended for engaging and catching on thebottom or objects disposed on the bottom. The line 36 is pulled upwardlyto collapse the fiukes into the position shown in FIG. 4 so that theywill not catch on any such objects and thereby permit the anchor to beraised easily. As this lifting force is first applied to the line 36,the member 28 fulcrums against the upper face 12 of the shank to providea lever action against the head 26 of the rod 24 and move said rodupwardly with respect to the shank 10. Continued lifting effort on theline 36 causes the member 28 to exert a direct lifting elfort on thehead 26, moving the plug 38 upwardly within the shank bore 20 with theside walls of the plug sliding against the noses 60 on the fiuke arms 52until the bottom face of said plug reaches a position above the noses60, thereby permitting the flukes to pivot about the pins 56 collapsingthe flukes into the position illustrated in FIG. 4. In this collapsedposition, the noses 60 are disposed against the side walls of the bore20 and the fluke plates 46 on the opposed flukes are disposed in asubstantially parallel relationship. After the flukes are collapsed, theanchor may be easily raised by pulling upwardly on the lines 16 and 36.Of course, when the flukes are not caught, the anchor may be raised bypulling upwardly on the lines 16 and 36 simultaneously. It

is possible to raise anchor by pulling upwardly on just one of thelines, but this creates the possibility of the other line becomingfouled.

By employing a plurality of alternately arranged fiukes having broad andnarrow faces, the flukes can be collapsed into a compact position inwhich the narrow pair of flukes 44 are received between the wider pairof flukes 42. This permits the flukes to be fully collapsed to form adownwardly extending extension of the shank of relatively smallcross-section, thereby giving the collapsed anchor a streamlinedappearance of relatively small crosssection along its entire length andthus reducing the possibility of the anchor being caught as it israised.

It will be noted from the dotted-line showing of FIG. 3 that in thecollapsed condition of the flukes the noses 60 thereof lie within thebore 20 in a position to limit downward movement of the plug 38. Thedownward force exerted by the spring 40 on the plug 38 and trans mittedtherethrough to the noses 60 tends to cause the fiukes to swing intotheir extended positions. However, with the anchor in a verticalposition the fluke-extending effort exerted by the spring 40 is opposedby the weight of the fiukes, and if the anchor is lying on its side withthe fiukes collapsed, such fluke-extending tendency is opposed by theWeight of the entire anchor, since no fluke could move into extendedposition without engaging the supporting surface and raising the entireanchor. If the downward effort exerted by the spring 48 is notsufficient to raise the fiukes into extended position when the anchor isheld in a vertical position by the rope l6 preparatory to droppinganchor, the resistance of the water to downward movement of the anchorwhen the rope 16 is released Will exert on the fluke a fluke-extendingeffort which, added to the effort of the spring 40, will permit thefiukes to swing into fully extended position and the plug 38 to dropbetween the noses 6t and hold the fiukes extended until, as describedabove, the plug 38 is retracted by pulling on the line 36.

It will be understood that the particular form of anchor shown and abovedescribed is set forth merely by way of example and that the inventionis not limited thereto. It is noted particularly that the meansincluding the lever 3032 for raising the plug 38 from fluke-lockingposition forms no part of the present invention but rather is thesubject of my prior application Ser. No. 793,097, filed February 13,1959, now Patent No. 2,990,800, of which this application is a division.

I claim as my invention:

1. A collapsible anchor, comprising an elongated shank having alongitudinally extending bore, a plurality of fiukes pivotally mountedon said shank near the lower end thereof and swingable between extended,generally radial positions and collapsed positions in which they extenddownwardly generally parallel to the shank, a locking member slidable insaid bore, means for moving the locking member upwardly in said bore,and a spring urging said locking member downwardly, each of said fiukeshaving a nose which in the collapsed condition of the flukes liesbeneath the lower end of said locking member in position to limitdownward movement thereof, said noses being so constructed and arrangedthat as the flakes swing upwardly from collapsed to extended positionsthe noses move downward and finally outwardly to permit the passagebetween them of the lower end of the locking member, the noses, when thefiukes are extended, engaging the side exterior surface of the lockingmember whereby downward pressure on an extended fluke will cause thelatter to exert an inward pressure on the locking member and movement ofthe flukes to their collapsed positions is prevented by the presence ofthe locking member between the fluke-noses.

2. A collapsible anchor, comprising an elongated shank having alongitudinally extending bore, a plurality of flukes pivotally mountedon said shank near the lower end thereof and swingable between extended,generally radial positions and collapsed positions in which they extenddownwardly generally parallel to the shank, a locking member slidable insaid bore, means for moving the locking member upwardly in said bore,and a spring urging said locking member downwardly, each of said flukeshaving a nose which in the collapsed condition of the fiukes liesbeneath a downwardly presented surface on said locking member inposition to limit downward movement thereof, said noses being soconstructed and arranged that as the fiukes swing upwardly fromcollapsed to extended positions the noses move downward and finallyoutwardly to permit the passage between them of the lower end of thelocking member, the noses, When the llukes are extended, engaging theside exterior surface of the locking member whereby downward pressure onan extended fluke will cause the latter to exert an inward pressure onthe locking member and movement of the flukes to their collapsedpositions is prevented by the presence of the locking member between thefluke-noses.

3. An anchor as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that there arefirst and second pairs of said fiukes, the two flukes of the first pairbeing pivoted to the shank on opposite sides thereof and on parallelaxes, the two flukes of the second pair being pivoted to the shank onopposite sides thereof between the fiukes of the first pair and on axesperpendicular to the axes of the first pair, the first pair of flukesbeing wider than the second pair.

4. An anchor as set forth in claim 2 with the addition that there arefirst and second pairs of said fiukes, the two flukes of the first pairbeing pivoted to the shank on opposite sides thereof and on parallelaxes, the two flukes of the second pair being pivoted to the shank onopposite sides thereof between the fiukes of the first pair and on axesperpendicular to the 'axes of the first pair.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,687,107 Evans Aug. 24, 1954 2,851,983 Hrivnyak Sept. 16, 1958 FOREIGNPATENTS 188,597 France Feb. 7, 1888 a

1. A COLLAPSIBLE ANCHOR, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SHANK HAVING ALONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BORE, A PLURALITY OF FLUKES PIVOTALLY MOUNTEDON SAID SHANK NEAR THE LOWER END THEREOF AND SWINGABLE BETWEEN EXTENDED,GENERALLY RADIAL POSITIONS AND COLLAPSED POSITIONS IN WHICH THEY EXTENDDOWNWARDLY GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE SHANK, A LOCKING MEMBER SLIDABLE INSAID BORE, MEANS FOR MOVING THE LOCKING MEMBER UPWARDLY IN SAID BORE,AND A SPRING URGING SAID LOCKING MEMBER DOWNWARDLY, EACH OF SAID FLUKESHAVING A NOSE WHICH IN THE COLLAPSED CONDITION OF THE FLUKES LIESBENEATH THE LOWER END OF SAID LOCKING MEMBER IN POSITION TO LIMITDOWNWARD MOVEMENT THEREOF, SAID